Skip to website content >

KAPLUN Origin of surname

KAPLUN, KAPLUN-KOGAN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from lineage (priestly, Levite, convert).

These Jewish family names derive from the Latin word Cappella ("chapel"), a small Christian prayerhouse, which in turn produced the term Chaplain, the person who conducts the prayers. Jews took the name Kaplan/Kaplun, particularly in Eastern Europe, as a vernacular equivalent of the name Cohen. The second part of the double-barreled name Kaplun-Kogan is also a widespread Russian form of Cohen. The first high priest (Cohen) of the Jews was Aharon, elder brother of Moses. It was his descendants who performed the consecrated duties of the Cohanim in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem until the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. The surname Cohen, or Ha-Cohen ("the priest"), is as ancient as the function itself, and throughout the Diaspora it is one of the most widespread sources of Jewish family names. A distinguished bearer of the name Kaplun-Kogan is the 20th century Russian-born German economist, publisher and author, Wladimir Wolf Kaplun-Kogan.
ANU Databases
Jewish Genealogy
Family Names
Jewish Communities
Visual Documentation
Jewish Music Center
Family Name
אA
אA
אA
KAPLUN Origin of surname
KAPLUN, KAPLUN-KOGAN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from lineage (priestly, Levite, convert).

These Jewish family names derive from the Latin word Cappella ("chapel"), a small Christian prayerhouse, which in turn produced the term Chaplain, the person who conducts the prayers. Jews took the name Kaplan/Kaplun, particularly in Eastern Europe, as a vernacular equivalent of the name Cohen. The second part of the double-barreled name Kaplun-Kogan is also a widespread Russian form of Cohen. The first high priest (Cohen) of the Jews was Aharon, elder brother of Moses. It was his descendants who performed the consecrated duties of the Cohanim in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem until the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. The surname Cohen, or Ha-Cohen ("the priest"), is as ancient as the function itself, and throughout the Diaspora it is one of the most widespread sources of Jewish family names. A distinguished bearer of the name Kaplun-Kogan is the 20th century Russian-born German economist, publisher and author, Wladimir Wolf Kaplun-Kogan.
Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People